Early literature

George Antheil's Ballet Mécanique (1923) is one of the earliest examples of composition for percussion, written originally as a film score and exemplifying the ideals of the Italian futurist movement. Antheil originally called for sixteen synchronized player pianos, as well as airplane engines, alongside more traditional percussion instruments. Another early example, Cuban composer Amadeo Roldán's Ritmicas nos. 5 and 6 of 1930, made use of Cuban percussion instruments and rhythms. But it was Edgard Varèse's Ionisation that "opened the floodgates" and truly brought the percussion ensemble into the fold of contemporary composition. Premiered in 1933 under the baton of Nicholas Slonimsky, Ionisation is thematically structured and makes use of 13 performers playing over 30 different instruments, including Latin percussion instruments, drums, cymbals, sirens, a piano, chimes and glockenspiel.

Early literature

George Antheil's Ballet Mécanique (1923) is one of the earliest examples of composition for percussion, written originally as a film score and exemplifying the ideals of the Italian futurist movement. Antheil originally called for sixteen synchronized player pianos, as well as airplane engines, alongside more traditional percussion instruments. Another early example, Cuban composer Amadeo Roldán's Ritmicas nos. 5 and 6 of 1930, made use of Cuban percussion instruments and rhythms. But it was Edgard Varèse's Ionisation that "opened the floodgates" and truly brought the percussion ensemble into the fold of contemporary composition. Premiered in 1933 under the baton of Nicholas Slonimsky, Ionisation is thematically structured and makes use of 13 performers playing over 30 different instruments, including Latin percussion instruments, drums, cymbals, sirens, a piano, chimes and glockenspiel.

in the Pentucket RegionalHigh School auditorium, will feature performances by the middle and high school choirs, orchestras, concert bands and percussionensembles, along with the middle school jazz band ...Chamberensembles will offer their own concert Feb....

Renowned visionary conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, who transformed the Los Angeles Philharmonic into what some observers regard as the world’s most important orchestra, has been hired as the San Franciscoensemble’s next music director ... The ensemble is made up of three trumpets, three trombones, a tuba, percussion and keyboards....

Over a percussive mandolin and a mournful ...Meridian — I suppose that Meridian is, at least nominally, a percussionensemble, in that its players — Tim Feeney, Sarah Hennies, GregStuart — perform in front of objects that produce distinct sounds when struck....